It's fair to say that the Kansas City Chiefs have had a pretty rich history at linebacker, and funny enough, most of it came during the founding years of the franchise. While total tackles accumulated are one of the preeminent factors in judging the greatness of an individual at the position, they weren't officially recorded until after three of the players on this list retired.
Which is why accolades and team winning played such a huge part in the majority of these rankings. Notable exceptions to this list include E.J. Holub of the early 1960s, Donnie Edwards in the late 1990s, and even Nick Bolton since 2021 to the present day.
Only four linebackers can make KC Kingdom's 11th edition of our ongoing series "Chiefs All-Time Mount Rushmore."
Chiefs linebacker Mount Rushmore features a pair of Hall of Famers and the franchise's leading tackler
Sherrill Headrick (1960-67)
Before the Chiefs became the team in Kansas City, Lamar Hunt boasted the Dallas Texans from 1960-62 in the AFL before relocating and becoming the team we know today. One of the first defensive stars of those Texans and early Chiefs teams was linebacker Sherrill Headrick.
Despite going undrafted out of TCU prior to the 1960 season, Headrick signed with the Texans and immediately made an impact. Again, tackles were not a recorded stat yet, but rest assured, Headrick got his fair share, playing in over 100 games with the franchise.
His nine years in Kansas City can be summarized with a trio of first-team All-Pro honors, four Pro Bowl selections, nine sacks, 14 interceptions, and 10 fumble recoveries. Headrick was also an integral defensive cog who helped the Chiefs go 11-3 in 1962 and win the AFL Championship led by legendary head coach Hank Stram. He was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 1993.
Bobby Bell (1963-74)
A lifelong Kansas City Chief and one of the organization's most revered players ever. Bobby Bell was the total package as a do-it-all linebacker. Bell was drafted 56th overall by the Texans in the 1963 AFL Draft and 16th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL Draft. As the team quickly relocated and became the Kansas City Chiefs, Bell made the decision to wear red and gold.
Bell's rookie season was strong with 4.5 sacks and one interception to go along with countless takedowns. It was in 1964 when he really started to make some ground among casual fans and media, beginning what would be nine consecutive Pro Bowl invites and, a year later, a streak of six straight first-team All-Pros was spurred as well.
Bell was the ultimate Swiss Army knife on the field at 6'4", 230 lbs, with freaky athleticism that allowed him to play a little bit of everything. His 12-year Chiefs career saw Bell accumulate 40 sacks, 26 picks, and 15 fumble recoveries to go along with eight defensive touchdowns and no doubt a heap of tackles.
Bell was a leader of the historic Chiefs' 1969 defense that led the team to its first Super Bowl victory versus the same team that he elected not to play for all those years ago, the Vikings. Bell was selected into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 1980 and three years later became the first-ever Kansas City Chiefs to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Willie Lanier (1967-77)
Bell wasn't the only legendary Chiefs linebacker of his time. Willie Lanier was another dominating presence in the middle of the defense for Kansas City, and within a couple of years, the 'green dot' of the unit. Drafted 50th overall by the Chiefs in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft, Lanier's rookie season was marred by injuries.
During the 1968 campaign, he truly began to show his football IQ prowess and tenacious tackling ability. Lanier made eight straight Pro Bowls of his own from 1968-75, as well as three first-team All- Pros, and came top-10 in the voting for both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in '72.
Lanier spent all 11 of his pro years as a Chief, and while he didn't have nearly the sack numbers of a Bobby Bell, his 27 interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries prove his mind was his greatest asset and that he allowed others to shine on the field through the intricate parts of the game he had perfected.
Lanier was also on the Chiefs' 1969 Super Bowl-winning team, as he and Bell remain one of the greatest linebacker tandems of all time. Willie Lanier was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 1985 as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Derrick Johnson (2005-17)
Finally, we get into an era of football where tackles were a counting stat, and Derrick Johnson did that better than probably any other Chief in history. His 1,154 total tackles are a franchise record, and he remains the only Chief to ever eclipse 1,000 tackles.
Johnson was selected by the Chiefs in the 2005 draft, 15th overall in the first round, and he was instantly an entrenched every-down starter for the team. No part of Johnson's game was flashy; he was just a very instinctual, high-IQ guy who got downhill early and often. He had five separate seasons of 100-plus total takedowns, made his one and only first-team All-Pro in 2011, and was selected to four Pro Bowls.
Over 13 seasons in Kansas City, Johnson accumulated the gargantuan amount of tackles already listed, as well as 27.5 sacks, 14 ints, 23 forced fumbles, and over 100 tackles for loss. It's a shame that the Chiefs, as bad as they were during his time, failed to make any real noise late into the season as he played in just six career playoff games, the lone victory coming in 2015.
Derrick Johnson is a franchise legend with years of high-quality play. It was also recently announced that in April, Johnson became the 55th Chiefs individual to be inducted into the team's Hall of Honor.
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